Shoe press last



Nov. 17, 1942. HUNTOQN 2 ,302,222

SHOE PRESS LAST Filed June 13, 1942 an I!!! CUL LEN L HUNTOON ATTORNEY Patented Nov. 17, 1942 ATEN'E OFFICE.

j SHOE PRESS LAST Cullen L. Huntoon, St. Louis, Mo, assignor to Landis Machine Company, St. Louis, Mo., a corporation of Missouri Application June 13, 1942, Serial No. 446,887

13 Claims. (01. 12-123) ,The invention relates to lasts such as are commonly associated with presses used in cementing a shoe sole or half sole to the shoe upper, al-

though the invention is not limited to such use but is adapted for otherlast-like uses.

The last and its use are of the same general types as described in a copending application by the present inventor, Serial No. 388,209, filed April 12, 1941, and hasthe same general objects as the device disclosed in that application;

namely, to equalize the pressure throughout the length of the shoe partscontacted by the last and-to render the last adjustable to different variations in the angle between the shoe sole and shank, and preferably to render the adjustment effective automatically upon the application of thrust to the'last parts. The invention is particularly adaptable for use in shoe repair shops because-it avoids the necessity of providing a multitude of lasts for working effectively upon shoes with different heights of heels and correspondingly different angles between the sho sole and shank.

A further object of the present invention is to insure a more continuous and smoother contactz between the sole and shank engaging portions of 'the last Without detracting from the automatic adjustment and other advantages of the last previously disclosed.

An additional object to prevent marring of the sock lining or other last opposing surface of the shoe when the last parts are slid along each other to adjust the last to the shoe.

In the accompanying drawing illustrating the present invention- Figure 1 is a side elevation, sectioned in part,

. All

shank engaging portions of the last with the adjacent part of the thrust transmitting member of the last indicated in broken lines.

Figures 4 and'5 are detail sections taken on the corresponding section lines of Figure 2.

Figure 6 is a detail longitudinal section showing The shoe press is detailed and claimed in Pat- 55 8-H about pin 20.

ent No. 2,268,874, issued to the presentinventor January 6, 1942, and includes a base I and a hand wheel 2 with a shaft (not shown) journalled in the base and geared to a crank shaft 3 with pins 4 connected by rods 5 toa yoke 6 having a bayonet slot type of connection to receive a tongue 1 on the forward end of the upper arm of the thrust member 8 of the" last which is inserted in the shoe. Base 1 mounts a pan-lik support 9 into which is inserted a deformable cushion l upon which the bottomof the shoemay rest. Rotation of hand wheel 2 moves rods downwardly to apply pressure through the last to the interior of the bottom of the shoe and thrust the exterior of the bottom of the shoe against the deformable cushion lfl.

Member 8 includes a foot-shaped body I l. Member 8 is rigid throughout and may consist of a single casting. Associated with the thrust transmitting member is a shoe sole engaging part l2 and a shoe shank engaging part l3, these parts being hinged to each other as best shown in Figures 3 and 4, a projecting tongue I4 on part 13 being received in an aperture IS in part I2, the outer boundary of the aperture forming a hinge pin I6 about which tongue I4 is curved.

The thrust member and sole engaging part l2 are detachably held in assembly with each other by a pin having a head'2l engaging an upwardly facing'sur'face of the body I l of the thrust member. Pin 20 has" a portion 22 of reduced diameter extending into a recess 23 opening up- 'wardly from the bottom of part l2.

The shoulder on the pin formed by its reduced diameter portion 22 rests on top of the boss l9 surrounding recess 23. A spring 24 is seated against the inner end of recess 23 and engages a collar 25 on the lower end of the pin 28. Member body I! is slotted, as indicated at 26, to receive pin 29 through the forward end of the body. The underside of body II is recessed at 21 to receive an upwardly projecting lug 28 on part l3, the bottom of the recess forming a cam coacting with the upper edge of lug 28 to determine the angular relation between parts I2 and IS. The thrust member 8-H is bored to receive a coil spring 29 secured at its upper end by detachable pin 30 and having its lower end attached to lug 28. This spring pulls part l3 up against part i l avoiding a too loose pivotal movement of parts [3 and I2 and yieldingly holding lug 28 in groove 2'! and thereby preventing lateral pivoting of part The opposing faces of member l l and part l2 are curved, and these elements are slidable' over each other longitudinally'of the last to difierent assembly positions, two of which are indicated by the solid and broken lines showing the thrust member in Figure 2.

With the last parts assembled in the full line position indicated in Figure 2, the operator may grasp member 8 and insert the forward end of part I2 into a shoe. If the shoe has a low heel and its shank and sole are inclined to each other about as indicated in the full line position of part I3 as shown in Figure 2, these parts will be seated against the inner face of the shoe sole and shank and, upon attaching the shank to yoke 6 (Figure 1) and applying pressure in the direction of the arrow B, corresponding to the pullon yoke 6 exerted by links 5, the friction between-body I I and part I2 will hold these parts in the position indicated and the thrust will be transmitted to part I3 through its cam lug 28. If the shoe has a high heel, the workman, in inserting the last into the shoe, applies pressure in the direction of a selective manual adjustment of the parts, as has been customary with previous devices for the same general purpose. Irrespective of the point at which the downward movement is limited by the resistance of the shoe shank, there will be provided a fairly smooth, continuous sole and shank engaging surface, and the shoe material will not be scratched or otherwise marred by movement of the thrust transmitting member longitudinally of the shoe engaging parts.

A bumper spring 3| has one end received in a recess in body I I and has its other end positioned to abut pin 20, and this spring thrusts parts II and I2 to the .full line position indicated in Figure 2 when the device is not in a shoe or otherwise held in a different position, rendering it unnecessary for the workman, when he picks up the last to insert it in a shoe, to move-the parts from the position indicated by the broken lines I la and I3a to the position indicated by the full lines.

The different relative positions of the three parts of the last adapt the latter to accommodate different angles between shoe soles and shanks so that substantially uniform pressure may be applied throughout the length of the shoe sole and shank of any shoe into which the last may be inserted. Obviously, complete equipment would require several lasts of different widths and lengths for extreme variations in shoes, but nevertheless each last will be adapted for a large variety of shoe styles.

Figure 7 illustrates a modification in which the yielding thrust of the shank engaging part 43 against the pressure member body 4| is effected by a compression spring 49 with its ends received in opposing recesses in shank engaging part 43 and sole engaging part 62. The spring extends beneath hinge pin 46 and the hinge lug M on part 43 is bifurcated to straddle spring d9. This arrangement may be preferred, particularly if it is desired, in successive operations, to frequently switch thrust transmitting member 8 to different sizes of sole and shank parts.

The details of the structure and the particular manner in which it is used may be varied from spirit of the invention, and the exclusive use of such modifications as come within the scope of the claims is contemplated.

What is claimed is:

1. In a last for a shoe press or.the like, a sole contacting part, a shank contacting part movably secured thereto, and a rigid member for applying thrust to both of said parts and movable to different positions relative to said parts and to vary the angle between said parts in a direction transversely of the general plane of the sole to which the last is applied.

2. Structure as described in claim 1 in which the thrust applying member is detachably secured to one of the-parts and has a portion opposing the other of theparts, there being means yieldingly moving the latter-mentioned part into contact with said portion.

3; In alast for a shoe press or the like, a sole contacting part, a shank contacting part, said parts being arranged end to end and hinged to each other, there being recesses in their opposing ends, a coil spring with its ends seated in said recesses and extending at one side of the hinge pivot to move the parts relative to each other in one direction, a member for applying thrust to said parts in the opposite direction and movable to different positions relative to said parts and to vary the angular relation between said parts.

4. In a last for a shoe press or the like, a sole contacting part, an extension movably secured to said part to contact the shoe shank, a member through which thrust may be applied to said part and extension, said member being arranged to be assembled in different positions relative to said part and extension and automatically varying the angle between said partand extension as it moves to different positions relative thereto, the structure including means frictionally holding said member, part and extension in different assembled positions.

5. In a last for a shoe press or the like, a shoe sole contacting part, a part pivoted thereto and extending therefrom and forming an extension thereof adapted to contact a shoe shank, and a thrust transmitting member having a portion slidably assembled with one of said parts and having a portion arranged to abut the other of said parts, the contact between said member and the part with which it is assembled being curved whereby said parts are held at different angles to each other as said member is slid along the part with which it is assembled.

the above description without departing from the 6. Structure as described in claim 5 which includes means yieldingly moving the parts relative to each other in one direction.

7. In a last for a shoe press or the like, a shoe sole contacting part and an extension for contacting a shoe shank, said part and extension being movable angularly relative to each other to accommodate different angular arrangements of shoe sole and shank, and a thrust transmitting member slidably assembled with said sole contacting part and having a portion opposing said shank contacting part for limiting its angular movement in one direction relative to the sole contacting part, the angle between said part and extension varying with the relative position of said member and part.

8. In a last for a shoe press or the like, a sole contacting part, a shank contacting part, said parts being arranged end to end and hinged to each other, a member overlying said parts and adapted to apply pressure to said parts to thrust the parts against the inner face of a shoe sole and shank, the opposing portions of said member and one of said parts forming cam and follower elements, whereby shifting of the member longitudinally of the parts varies the inclination of the parts to each other.

9. Structure as described in claim 8 which includes a spring attached to the shank engaging part and to the overlying member and yieldingly pulling the shank engaging part and the overlying member towards each other and maintaining the contact of the cam and follower elements.

10. Structure as described in claim 8 which includes yielding means thrusting the sole engaging part and the overlying member to a relative position in which the shoe sole and shank engaging parts are at one extreme of their relative inclination.

11. Structure as described in claim 8 in which the cam and follower elements hold the shoe shank engaging part and the overlying member against relative movement transversely of the last.

12. An adjustable last for a shoe press or the like comprising a sole engaging part and a shank engaging part pivoted to each other to swing transversely of the general plane of the sole to which the last is applied, and a thrust transmitting member slidable on one of said parts longitudinally of the last and having a portion abutting the other of said parts to limit pivotal movement of the latter transversely of said plane away from the adjacent portion of the shoe, said member and parts being provided with means 

